


Septum

by kissability



Series: Gawsten Oneshots [13]
Category: Waterparks (Band)
Genre: Coming Out, M/M, Piercing, lucky people, pre-existing relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-16
Updated: 2018-01-01
Packaged: 2018-12-30 10:00:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,094
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12106272
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kissability/pseuds/kissability
Summary: Awsten had been looking forward to getting his nose pierced for awhile now.On a cloudy day in the middle of the Made In America tour, he convinces his bandmates slash boyfriend and best friend to take him to get his septum pierced.Problem; He's slightly, okay, really, afraid of needles.





	1. Chapter 1

Awsten's leg shook up and down as the trio drove through the tall buildings. He looked around, staring through various skyscrapers, nerves overtaking him as he thought about what was happening today. They'd visited Portland quite a few times, even just in the past year and it seemed fairly reliable - and although he'd prefer this happen in Houston - Portland seemed pretty trustable.

With the exception of the grape voodoo donut he'd consumed and got sick from in Feburary, and the kids who screamed at him to play Wonderwall after their - and All Time Low's - show in July.

It was a good time to finally fulfill his dreams of acquiring a septum piercing, and face his not-so-irrational fear of needles. And it was happening on this leg of the tour, whether he was tempted to drop out last minute or not. Which he was definitely considering at the moment, because fuck, the jewelry was so pretty but it meant a needle had to go through his fucking nose.

"So," Otto said to break the silence from the back seat, leaning forward and leaving a loud clap on Awsten's back, "You're finally getting it."

"Yes, Otto, I am." Awsten responded with sarcastic aggression, to which Otto quirked an eyebrow. "What? The fuck's that face for?"

Otto shrugged, Geoff still paying attention to the road as he sat at the driver's seat. "Just wasn't expecting you to actually go through with it."

"Well," Awsten rolled his eyes, "Twitter's been talking about it for a couple months, and they say I'll look like a cool band guy. Plus, you have a piercing on your left, my man has one on his right," Awsten gestured towards Geoff, who smirked lightly, "And If I get a septum, It'll even us out. Jawn can get a medusa or something to fit in, I don't know, but I do know that I want this piece of metal in my face."

"I'm proud of you, babe," Geoff said from the front seat, eyes still focused on the road but voice genuine. 

"I remember when you got your nose pierced, 'cause you know. I was there." Awsten mused, looking at the ring in Geoff's nose that glinted in the sunlight whenever he moved his head at the right angle.

"Yeah, you were. And you were annoying. I just sat on the couch and chilled, while you were over there shoving the camera in Geoff's face and screaming because seeing the needle go through made you cringe. You were more nervous than him." Otto interrupted, laughing at the memory. 

Geoff was the one to respond this time. "Well yeah, but he's afraid of needles and you'd already gotten your nose pierced. It was a casual thing for you, 'cause you knew what it felt like. I, however, did not, and Awsten was concerned."

"Yeah, okay. It was a good video. Still don't understand why we deleted it off the channel, though. I fear the internet, but that video was hilarious." Otto replied, still leaning forward between Geoff and Awsten as Geoff focused on the road.

Awsten shrugged and looked back at Otto. "You know why. The romantic tension between Geoff and I has gone on for years, even before we were actually together, and it's obvious in a lot of old videos, especially that one. Even if we edited out some of the more... weird... scenes, it still showed through. Same with a ton other videos. Was a mutual decision, remember?"

"Yeah, yeah." Otto sighed. "I don't understand why you guys can't just come out so we can re-release the old videos. Including the video for I Was Hiding Under Your Porch."

"Because, Otto, there are literally four people in the pop punk community that are out. Two are Laura Jane Grace and Mina Caputo, one is Lynn from Pvris, and the only guy that's out is Tyler from Issues. It's a small community, and it takes a lot of balls to say you're LGBT, especially in front of an audience like that."

"They all did it. Why can't you?"

"Because, Lynn and Tyler's partners have never been members of the same band as them. If fans know we're together, especially two and a half months after us breaking if off with our girlfriends, it'll blow into this huge thing. People will fear us breaking up, and therefore breaking up the band, plus literally every interview will be about the relationship." Awsten responded. "Trust me, I want to come out, desperately, but it's difficult and with the new album being released soon, it probably won't happen for awhile."

"I'm just saying, I don't mind being the third wheel until it all blows over, and I know for a fact most our fans won't care, Awsten. It's really not that big of a deal. You may have 40k followers on twitter, but it doesn't mean you have less of a right to talk about the person you love-"

"Guys, in case you haven't noticed, we've been parked for like five minutes now.We have soundcheck in an hour and a half. If you're going to do this, you're going to do it now."

"It's happening." Awsten said almost immediately, grabbing onto the door handle before glaring at Otto. "Can you hold the camera and film for me? Please?"

"Fine." Otto responded, and Awsten let out a large sigh of release. "But, if I do, I get to edit it. And choose what does and does not get edited out."

Awsten and Geoff's eyes shot open simultaneously, looking at one another and sharing a non-verbal conversation. Awsten searched Geoff's eyes for any sign of major red flag! but saw nothing. They could act straight for this video. 

Finally, both spoke at the same time. "Okay." They both breathed.

"God, I hate it when you guys do that." Otto whined before climbing out of the van.

\--

Awsten sat in the room the piercer had directed him to, holding onto Geoff for dear life as he did his thing a few feet away. 

"Are you excited?" Otto teased, shoving the camera in Awsten's face as Awsten sat there with a scowl.

"Shut up, Otto. You're an asshole." Awsten said with a blank face, Geoff standing next to him and rubbing circles into his back where the camera couldn't see.

"You'll be fine," Otto responded, zooming into Awsten's face even more. "Goodbye naked nostrils."

Awsten cringed and pushed Otto (and the camera) away as the piercer walked into the room.

"Hi, I'm Aaron and I'll be doing your septum piercing today." He spoke, reaching out a hand to shake Awsten's. "What's your name again?"

"Awsten. And this is Geoff. And the person behind the camera, that's Otto. The lady at the front desk said we could film, but just in case, is it alright if we film in here too?"

"Yeah, yeah, It's all good. Nice to meet you all. So, let's get into it, shall we?" The piercer, Aaron, asked as he clapped his gloven fingers together.

"Uh, yeah. Sure. Let's uh, let's do this." Awsten sighed, widening his eyes.

Aaron raised his eyebrows. "Having second thoughts?"

It was Geoff who responded to that one. "He's just like, really afraid of needles."  
"It's a reasonable fear."  
"It's really not."  
"Yes, it is, asshole!"

"Are they always like this?" The piercer asked Otto.

"Oh, yeah. Always." Otto responded with a shrug. He adjusted the camera so that it was focused on the hospital-bed like surface that Awsten was laying on.

"Alright, I'm gonna have to ask you to lay down." Aaron said towards Awsten once they'd finished their mini-arguement. Awsten complied almost immediately, and absentmindedly held onto Geoff's hand, who was sat near his hips on the surface, a few feet away from Awsten's face for obvious reasons.

"You can close your eyes if you want to," The piercer said as he reached into a drawer, "In fact, I recommend it. I'm getting out a sanitized needle."

Awsten breathed deeply for a second before shutting his eyes. Definitely the better option, for everyone's sake. If he was really that desperate to see, he'd watch the video later.

"So, basically I'm just going to stick this tube into your nose, so you're going to feel a slight discomfort, then I'll ask you to breathe in deeply through your mouth, I'll quickly put the needle through the septum and pierce the skin, then I'll put in the jewelry. Easy. It'll hurt a little bit, and your eyes will water, but it's a fairly quick and pain-conscience procedure."

"Easy." Awsten agreed, squeezing Geoff's hand.

"Easy." Otto said behind the camera, to which Otto received an evil glare from Geoff that Awsten couldn't see.

"Alright, let's begin." Aaron said, unwrapping the needle and placing the tube in Awsten's nose. It was uncomfortable, but not the most uncomfortable he's ever been by any means.

The process was actually fairly quick, as Aaron had said, and although it stung for a good five seconds, it was over before anything but a hitched breath could come out of his mouth.

"Alright, you're all good. You have a septum piercing. Be sure not to touch it." The man said after a few seconds of adjustment, grabbing a hand mirror and handing it to Awsten.

After wiping away his minor tears, he opened his eyes and looked at himself. It looked Awesome. Plus, he was really proud of himself.

"Babe, it looks so good. I'm so proud, you survived your fear of needles." Geoff said, completely forgetting the fact that there was a camera on them. He leaned in slightly, ready to kiss Awsten, but Awsten pulled back his face.

"Watch out for the piercing," He teased with a slight lisp emphasized at the end and pointed to his nose. This wasn't even because of Otto, who was across the room with the camera - it was just Awsten being Awsten.

Geoff shrugged, turning his head to the right as he leaned in again. Awsten complied, turning his head to the left as to avoid hitting the metal in his nose, locking their lips.

Otto suddenly zoomed the camera into them, singing "The boys are back, the boys are out," to the tune of Gloom Boys jokingly. Geoff and Awsten suddenly pulled apart, realizing what just happened.

"Oh fuck. Uh, what's up, internet?" Awsten blushed as he stared wide-eyed at the camera.

"I am so editing and posting this before soundcheck." Otto said before turning the camera towards Aaron. "Sorry you were here to see this, Aaron. We're in a band called Waterparks, and the Gawsten boys over here," Otto turned the camera back towards Awsten and Geoff, "Weren't out till now."

As the group walked out of the shop, Otto let the camera roll again. Geoff and Awsten had given up, deciding to hold hands on the way to the car.

Otto cheekily zoomed in, singing "they're so, ga-a-a-ay."


	2. Lucky People

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Surprise.

"Hey, Houston. This is our last song for the night. Just so you know, there's a video coming out tonight, on our youtube channel. Otto's been holding onto it for awhile, 'cause we sort of made him wait till today. It's actually uploading right now, so uh, it might come out before the set's over. Who knows." Awsten smiled towards the crowd, feet dangling off of his given stool. He pointed to the middle of his face, and attempted to look down at it. "It involves me getting this piece of metal through my nose, and uh, some other stuff from a few weeks back. And the video, well- It sorta connects to this song. In a certain way."

"I wasn't planning on doing it this way, but I don't have much of a choice, Uh, this is a new song off of our new album, Entertainment. It's coming out in January. Buy it." Awsten rambled into the mic with a smirk, sitting at the stool with his acoustic guitar and a string of lights wrapped around his neck. The crowd cheered in response.

His heart thumped in his chest. He could do this. "So," He spoke up, "This song isn't about who you're gonna think it is. I promise you that. I wrote almost a year ago, and I was- I was trying to make it about someone else but it just wasn't working. This song was made for another person. The person has heard it, and knows it, and I've known it, for a long time now too."

The crowd let out howls yet again. Awsten found himself smiling, although nerves were filling him from head to toe. "You guys seem excited. This song's called Lucky People."

A few small cheers were let out once again, before he began to play. The guitar was simple, not too much, but simple enough, and his breathing was steady. He couldn't think much about it or he would run off the stage, and that wasn't an option.

The first few lines went perfectly, and he was nearing the end of the first verse. "From the world," He sang freely, but his heart dropped at the end of it. He could do this. It wasn't as difficult as it seemed.

Without a second thought, he continued. "Merry Christmas, Happy Easter, to the one I call my Mister..." 

He could hear the tension in the room rise like bread in the oven, and he felt the vibe tighten. A few audible gasps from the crowd rang throughout the room, but for the most part they were silent. He didn't dare open his eyes to look down at all the faces likely judging him. Even if they were loyal fans, family, and friends.

His mom was in the crowd.

He'd joked about it before, to everyone. In tweets, in asks, in videos, in public places; He had kept the joke going for years. Awsten is straight, but he likes to make jokes about being gay. Who knew that the plot twist would be that the punchline wasn't all that far from the truth.

He sure hadn't, until the past few years. 

"'Cause now I'm driving 'cross the county, more than weekly for you," He breathed, playing like his life depended on it, "You've got me more than clumsy, but you're my blue now, lovely."

The final chorus went along smoothly, and Awsten finally felt comfortable enough to open his eyes once it finished. The cords tangled around his neck suddenly seemed tighter as all the wide-eyes fans' faces stared back at him in silence.

"I don't normally comment after songs but- This one is important. Really important. I know y'all heard the pronoun usage. So, this is me saying it," He shut his eyes tightly before re-opening them, breathing air from his lungs that he didn't even realized was trapped. "I like boys."

To his surprise, the entire crowd erupted in cheers and clapping. The vibe was happy. They weren't angry, or upset; They were happy for him, they were rooting for him, they were here to support him without a second thought. A real smile formed on his lips.

"Yeah, uh, okay. Thank you." Awsten said awkwardly, his face turning bright red while attempting to quiet them down after awhile of them cheering and him just sitting in pure shock. "I like boys, but I really like one boy. I um, I actually love one boy. He's uh- he's here right now."

"You might know him. He's been on tour with us for awhile now, and it's been pretty fucking cool." He leaned into the mic a bit, but not to the point where there was feedback.

"Carter!?" A fan screamed.

Awsten laughed, louder than he probably should've. "No!" He stood up from his seat and turned towards the side of the stage. "Okay, uh, Geoff? Could you come up here?"

Geoff knew Awsten was doing this tonight, and was prepared to come on stage at his queue. He smiled widely at his boyfriend's fake confidence in front of the crowd; Normally, it was real, but he knew right now that the lilac-haired boy was playing a game of fake it till you make it with himself.

He instantly ran up, and after Awsten set his guitar on the ground, Geoff interlocked their hands. The crowd was booming, screams coming from every direction possible, and Geoff wasn't sure whether he felt proud or objectified; perhaps a mix of both. 

He leaned in himself, attempting to quiet down the crowd. "Ahem!" He spoke into the mic with a smile. "Sup, guys? I'm Geoff, and Awsten Knight is my fucking boyfriend."

Geoff wrapped his arms around his boyfriend, which he could now say aloud if he wanted to, before kissing his cheek with a smile.

"Thank you so much Houston! This has been the Made In America Tour."

Then the lights went black.

———

"So, Awsten. Waterparks' new record Entertainment is coming out soon. Care to talk a bit about that?"

Awsten smiled, fixing his glasses on the bridge of his nose. "Um, yeah, sure. I can't say much, but it's bigger. Better. It's everything."

The interviewer nodded. "I see. You actually just finished your second-ever headlining tour, and last night revealed that one of the songs is about Geoff, one of your fellow bandmates. Would you mind adding on that?"

"Uh, yeah, okay." Awsten half-smiled. He was partially dreading this question, although expecting it. "Geoff and I have been together since like, May, but we didn't really want to come out about it because of all that's been happening for the band lately. I don't want Waterparks to be Geoff and I's relationship, you know? It's Otto, Geoff and I making music. That's it."

The interviewer seemed a bit shaken. Awsten then realized he was coming off as a bit too passionate, and possibly seemed angry. He frowned. "Uh, sorry. I just- I want the fans to know we're together, but I don't want that to be all we are. I know we're cute as fuck, but I don't want people on twitter saying my band only gets the hype because there are two guys who are dating in it. I want them to like us for our music, and no offense, but I want interviews about our music to stay on the topic of our music."

"I see. So, in that case, what are you excited about doing as soon as you're home from LA?"

"Honestly? Going to HEB with Geoff, buying a fuck-ton of orange juice, and not sharing a drop with him."

**Author's Note:**

> this took place in my town!
> 
> for anyone wondering, the wonderwall thing was based on an interaction i had with awsten after the portland date of the young renegades tour.
> 
> AKA, my friend repeatedly asking awsten and him refusing, before otto came outside and sang us bawitdaba instead.


End file.
